All Fired Up
by Fifi Lafleur
Summary: Helen and Bob try to find out what happened to Jack-Jack and Kari while they were out.


Disclaimer: I do not own The Incredibles.

**Chapter 1**

"What a great movie Bob. Thank you so much for taking me. It was nice to just sit back and let someone else catch the bad guys for a change." Helen reached out and put her hand into her husband's.

Bob smiled and gave Helen's hand a little squeeze. "Yeah, the movie was pretty good. I guess those supposed super heroes did an okay job, but I would have done it differently. You know…"

"Oh Bob!" interjected Helen. "Can't you forget about being a super hero for even one minute?" As she said this, she reached out to touch his arm. A red light on her watch was blinking on and off. "Just a minute dear. I have a message from the baby sitter. No, two messages. Omigosh, there's eight messages! Something must be wrong."

Bob took one look at his worried wife's face. "Settle down Helen. I'm sure it's nothing. You can call Kari from the car." He quickly steered her in the direction of the car. Once there, he jumped in and started the car. Helen was using speed dial on her porta-phone to call home. No answer.

"Oh no. There's definitely something wrong. She's not picking up." She tried again. Still nothing. Panic was beginning to set in. "Oh Bob, what if something has happened to Jack-Jack? Pick up, come on, pick up!" Helen's voice was shrill.

"Really Helen. I'm sure they're both okay. He pointed to the clock. "Look. It's 8:05. Jack-Jack is probably in the tub as we speak. Kari is a very conscientious girl, and she wouldn't leave Jack-Jack alone to go and answer the phone."

"Don't patronize me Bob. I'm telling you there's something really wrong. Why else would there be so many messages on my watch pager?" Helen's face was full of worry.

"Okay, you're right. Something is up. I was just trying to calm you down." Bob's face had a grim look to it. He floored the accelerator and the car lurched forward in a burst of speed. The tires squealed and screeched as he rounded the corner on two wheels. He raced towards the house, honking his horn and yelling at the cars to get out of his way. It seemed to take forever to get home.

The house finally came into sight. The two super heroes jumped out of the car and raced to the front door. "Hurry up and open the door!" yelled Helen. In his haste to get in, Bob was fumbling with the key and couldn't get it into the lock. Helen grabbed the key, inserted it and threw the door open.

Their mouths fell open in disbelief. The house was in shambles. Broken or overturned furniture was strewn about and patches of carpet had been burned, An acrid smell hung in the air. They looked at each other in silence and then looked back into the room. Kari, the baby sitter, was sitting with a fire extinguisher in her hands. Jack-Jack was sound asleep—on the floor! The two super heroes approached the zombie-like sitter.

"Kari, dear, are you all right?" asked Helen. Not getting any answer, she passed her hand in front of the zoned out teenager. Nothing. There was no movement, not even a twitch. Her eyes were fixed, unmoving on Jack-Jack. A look of sheer terror was frozen on her colorless face. "Bob, what should we do? I can't seem to get a reaction out of her."

Bob had gone over to check on Jack-Jack. Satisfied that the youngster was just sleeping, he began surveying the damage, noting the burn marks on the carpet and the broken bars on the upside-down play pen. He was scratching his head, wondering what could have caused all this carnage. Upon hearing Helen's question, he looked over to where she stood beside Kari. "I don't know Helen. Maybe try touching her gently on the arm. This little guy seems okay. He's sound asleep."

Hearing that Jack-Jack seemed okay, Helen's look of concern lessened a little. Turning back to face the zoned out sitter, she tentatively reached out and touched the teenager's arm. "Kari, honey, it's Mrs. Parr. Can you hear me?" Zero reaction - no blinking, absolutely nothing. Perplexed, she spoke louder. "Kari, for heaven's sake, answer me! What's wrong with you? What happened?" The questions fell on deaf ears. For some reason, Kari would not or could not answer.

Bob came over and tried to take the fire extinguisher out of Kari's hands. She had a death-like grip on it, and Bob literally had to pry it out of her hands. A whimper escaped from her lips, but she still didn't move. "It's okay Kari. We're here now," Bob said gently.

Helen added, "Yes Kari, everything's okay. Are you and Jack-Jack okay?"

Jack-Jack heard his parents' voices and stirred. His eyes opened and he gurgled with pleasure. He crawled over to his mother and she picked him up. He cooed and gurgled some more. "Oh my precious little Jack-Jack. Are you all right?"

Upon hearing the baby's name, Kari sprang to life and screamed, "You've got to help me! The baby's on fire! He's on fire and I can't get it out!" The terrified teenager then burst into tears. "Please help me! I don't know what's happening." And with that last utterance, Kari collapsed to the floor.


End file.
